Productive Heart - A future Platform for Makers and Creators

The urban design project Productive Heart deals with the traditional industrial area and the integration of the production process into the urban structure of Heidelberg. The aim is to create a symbiotic exchange between residents and workers.

The industrial area, formerly located on the outskirts of the city, is now attractively located in a central and urban position due to the development of the surrounding neighborhoods. The area lacks a connection to its immediate surroundings and demands new responses to be an integrated part of the urban fabric in the future.

In the new master plan, the neighborhood is designed around a green avenue free from automobile traffic, along which the area's main facilities and companies are lined up; reflecting on its multifaceted character. Existing production facilities, new factories with modernized technologies, a commercial center, workshops, educational institutions and the cultural "heart", in the form of the theater, become more visible in the urban space through spacious storefronts and exhibition pavilions.  In addition, two strategically important locations in Heidelberg will be connected: the Bahnstadt business district in the west and the school campus in the east. In addition to the spatial connection, education and the working world will be linked through greater exchange and practical relevance.

With the aim of creating a smooth transition between the city and the periphery, the area is divided into three characteristic sub-quarters for the purpose of re-densification, which meet along the new avenue and form a spacious marketplace in the center.